Richard s



(-No Model.)

B. S. TAPPENDEN. SWITCH FOR STREET RAILWAYS.

No.'540,466.' I Patented June 4, 1895.

UNITED STAT S LATENT FFIQE.

RICHARD S. TAPPENDEN, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THOMAS TAPPENDEN, OF SAME PLACE.

SWITCH FOR STREET- RA! LWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 540,466, dated June 4, 1895.

Application filed August 3, 1894. Serial No. 519,384. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD S. TAPPENDEN, of Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Switches for Street- Railways; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make anduse the same.

My invention relates to improvements in switch-tongue or rail-operating mechanism and in the bed for said rail.

Before proceeding with a description of my invention I would remark that I am well aware that mechanisms whereby switch tongues are automaticallyoperated have heretofore been devised, and I would further remark that my invention consists, merely, in certain features of construction and in combinations of parts hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims, the object being.- to obtain greater simplicity and durability than has heretofore been attained.

In the accompanying drawings, Figurel is aplan showing the switch tongue or rail, the

two lines of track, and the lever that engages and throws the switch tongue or rail in the one direction or the other and that is adapted to be operated by a suitable device carried by the motor-car, the drawing also illustrating the perforated bed upon which the switch tongue or rail operates. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a portion of a motor-car, showing the means carried by said car for operating the switch-tongue-actuating lever. Fig. 3 is an elevation, partly in section, on line 33, Fig. 1, showing, also, a portion of a motor-car and the mechanism carried by the car for operating the switch-tongue-actuating lever.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the pavement of a street, B and O the two lines of track, and D the switch-tongue or railthat operates between adjacent rails of said tracks in the usual manner, the same being pivoted at one end as at d.

E designates the bed upon which the switchtongue operates,which bed is perforated in the direction transversely of the switch-tongue orrail at suitable intervals, as at e, said perto protrude above the surface of the street.

That at the top of the chamber G, is provided with holes I, to accommodate the operation of said lever. The arrangement of parts is such that the one or the other end of lever H is caused to appear above the surface of the streetaccording as the lever is tilted or actuated in the one direction or the other.

Lever H is actuated by any suitable means borne by the motor-car, and the means employed is preferably as follows, (see Figs. 2 and 3:) The car is provided with two Vertically arranged rods or bars K extending downwardly through the floor or platform L of the car to within a suitable distance of the surface of the street. Said bars or rods, at theirlower ends, terminate in shoes K adapted to engage the extremities of lever H, the shoe on one rod or bar K being adaptedto engage one end of said lever and the shoe on the other bar or rod being adapted to engage the other end of the lever. Members K, at

their upper end, and within convenient reach located the required distance forward of theforward wheels of the motor-car.

By means of perforations E provided in the bed of the switch-tongueor rail, as hereinbefore described, there is no liability of dirt, dust, ice, &c., to accumulate about the ICC switch-tongue or rail to such an extent as to obstruct the operation of the same.

\Vhat I claim is 1. The combination with the pivoted switchtongue or rail, of a U-sl1aped lever H pivoted at its central portion, as at h and provided with an upwardly-extending arm II directly operatively engaging the switch-rail ortongue at a point centrally between the extremities of the lever, substantially as shown, for the purpose specified.

2. The combination with the pivoted switchtongue or rail D recessed upon its under side, as at D, of the U-shaped lever II pivotally RICHARD S. TAPPENDEN.

Witnesses:

O. H. Donna, WARD HOOVER. 

